The Influence of Race in Police-Civilian Interactions: A Content Analysis of Videotaped Interactions Taken During Cincinnati Police Traffic Stops

Abstract

Although the study of police-civilian relations has recently entered the intergroup communication arena, there are no studies of actual interactions between these social categories. In part to rectify that stark omission and guided by communication accommodation theory, 313 randomly sampled video recordings from police cars on traffic stops in Cincinnati, Ohio were content analyzed. The study revealed 3 key differences as a function of the officers' and drivers' races: (a) Black drivers were more likely to experience extensive policing during the stop; (b) the communication quality of White drivers was, on average, more positive than that of the Black drivers; and (c) officers' communication behavior was more positive when the officer and driver were of the same race. These findings are consistent with public opinion data and their implications for theory are discussed.

Police Stops of and Interactions with Latino and White (Non-Latino) Drivers: Extensive Policing and Communication Accommodation

“…The present study builds upon Dixon, Schell, Giles, and Drogos (2008) who invoked CAT to examine policeÁcivilian interactions. Focusing on African American and White police and civilians, the researchers conducted a content analysis of a stratified random sample of videorecorded traffic stops received from the Cincinnati Police Department.…”

Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy

“…To our knowledge only one previous effort has been made to conduct "armchair" observation of police by using video recordings of police-citizen encounters, rather than conducting in-person observation, to collect systematic information about police actions for analytical purposes (Dixon et al 2008). That study focused on traffic stops only, and in addition, it was designed to examine the influences of citizen and police officer race on communication patterns, and particularly "communication accommodation"; it did not extend to the wide range of citizen and officer behaviors on which SSO of police has dwelled, or on procedural justice as such.…”

“…(In re Cincinnati Policing 2003, 7) Both agreements were overseen by the same court-appointed monitor, though the collaborative agreement also provided for the selection of an independent evaluator. The RAND Corporation was selected and, among other things, conducted two surveys of the community-one in 2005 and a second in 2008-and also analyzed police-citizen interactions in annual samples of traffic stops across four years by coding the audio and video recordings captured by CPD's in-car cameras (Ridgeway et al 2009; also see Dixon et al 2008).…”

Baltimore Is Burning: Can I-O Psychologists Help Extinguish the Flames?

“…For instance, a content analysis of traffic stops in a metropolitan city in the Midwest showed that Blacks (vs. Whites) were more likely (often 3-5 times as much) to be searched, to be asked whether they had weapons, to be asked to leave the vehicle, or to have a passenger and/or vehicle searched (Dixon, Schell, Giles, & Drogos, 2008). In addition, in an analysis of traffic violations in a large metropolitan county in the Southeast, Alpert, Dunham, and Smith (2007) found that officers were significantly more likely to conduct a background check, complete a field interview card, and conduct pat-down and vehicle searches when they stopped Black motorists compared with White motorists.…”